Leadership is often thought of in terms of a general leading an army on the battlefield, a candidate running for high political office, a CEO of a fortune 500 corporation, or the senior pastor of a megachurch. Without a doubt, all of the groups of people in those contexts need and have leaders in order for those institutions to function. It is a misnomer though to only think of leaders and leadership in those contexts, because leaders are needed in all types and sizes of situations and groups of people. The family, the local school board, and even the local church that has less than 150 members are all contexts which need leaders. Leadership has been ill defined and presented so much so, that the average person fails to ever think they could be a leader. Clarity of definition and direct application to life situations is what is needed in a culture full of people on all levels who need leadership. This article will briefly dele into the definition of leadership and some application to ministry.

This writer, like many in the early years of his generation, was presented with a less than realistic view of leadership, and few principles to build upon let alone to become an effective leader. In the context of ministry, this writer came away from Bible college with perhaps a cloudy and confused view of leadership, for the individuals that were often paraded in front of the student body were individuals that were unique and especially gifted in the area of leadership. They led ministries that were unusual, in particular to their size which was vast and numerous. The instruction on leadership was meager at best, and had it not been for some caring and interested ministry mentors and a determination to read on one’s own, this writer may have become a casualty in the ministry like so many today. Bolman and Deal (2003) echo this sentiment when they write, “Leadership is universally offered as a panacea for almost any social problem. Around the world, middle managers say their enterprise would thrive if only senior management showed ‘real leadership’ . . . Yet there is confusion, and disagreement about what leadership means and how much difference it can make.” The intent of this article is to bring a little clarity to the definition of leadership, especially as it applies to minstry.

Many leadership theorists, gurus, and practitioners both secular and Christian have penned their ideas, thoughts, and experiences in the attempt to bring clarity to the subject of leadership. This article will look at a portion of those offerings as they define and give descriptions in order to gain a better understanding of leadership. Their definition and descriptions will reflect their preferred leadership style which are numerous.

Bolman and Deal (2003) take a look at leadership and identify that leadership is not something that is tangible because it exists only in relationships and in the imagination and perceptions of the people that are involved in a particular context. Leaders are expected to persuade or inspire rather than coerce or give orders, and they are expected to produce a cooperative effort and to pursue goals that transcend narrow self-interest. They draw some distinction between leadership and other areas that are often associated with the subject such as authority and management. Management and leadership are often confused although there is some overlap between the two. There are distinctions like John Gardner (1989) says, that one may be a leader without being a manager and many managers could not “lead a squad of seven-year-olds to the ice-cream counter.” Another difference offered by Bennis and Nanus (1985) say, “managers do things right, and leaders do the right things.” Bolman and Deal (2003) thus, offer their definition, “Leadership is thus a subtle process of mutual influence fusing thought, feeling, and action to produce cooperative effort in the service of purposes and values embraced by both the leader and the led.”

Kouzes and Posner (2002) who are identified with transformational leadership give their definition, “Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow.” They do not believe that leadership is about personality as trait theorists do, but put more weight on the practice of leadership. Their research has produced what they call the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership and the 10 Commitments of Leadership. The five practices are as follows: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. The 10 commitments are as follows: Find your voice by clarifying your personal values, set the example by aligning actions with shared values, envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities, enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations, search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve, experiment and take risk by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes, foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust, strengthen others by sharing power and discretion, recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence, and celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community. This model of leadership has become very popular in both secular and religious organizations, but there are still other definitions.

Peter G. Northouse (2007) in his book, Leadership: Theory and Practice, gives a definition of leadership. His definition, “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” He explains the definition by first establishing that leadership is a process meaning that it is not a trait or characteristic that resides n the leader, but a transactional event that occurs between the leader and his or her followers. The fact that it is a process means that it is not linear or in a one-way event but an interactive event that both affects the leader and the follower. And, since it is a process, it is available to everyone. Northouse’s (2007) definition includes the concept of influence which is how the leader affects followers. He further shows that leadership does not occur in a vacuum or along, but in the context of groups of people. Also, leadership includes the pursuit of goals. The leaders is the one who moves the group toward the final desired destination. Northouse (2007) then spends the rest of his text showing the various approaches and theories to leadership including: trait, skills, style, situational, contingency, path-goal, leader-member exchange, transformational, team, psychodynamic, and gender. Time and the brief purpose of this article will not allow for the exploration of all the approaches and theories mentioned above. The above mentioned definitions and descriptions have briefly surveyed the secular approaches to leadership, but now this writer will look at some Christian definitions, although many of the above definitions express the Christian and Biblical philosophy on leadership.

The Bible is the authority and anchor for Christian belief and practice. It gives a multitude of examples and principles both positive and negative with regard to leadership. For instances, there have been many notable leaders illustrated in the Bible such as Moses, the great deliverer of Israel; Nehemiah, the Jewish leader that led the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem n the return from captivity; Jesus Christ, perhaps the ultimate leader of all times and peoples; and Paul, the first century Christian apostle. All these and more are given in the Scriptures to learn from on the subject of Leadership. Others have built upon the Biblical examples and principles to give us definitions such as Alex Montoya (1995).

Montoya (1995) writing in Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry: Shaping Contemporary Ministry With Biblical Mandates, quotes two writers that are worth noting. First he gives a definition by James Means (1989) which goes as follows: Spiritual leadership is the development of relationships with the people of a Christian institution or body in such a way that individuals and the group are enabled to formulate and achieve biblically compatible goals that meet real needs. By their ethical influence, spiritual leaders serve to motivate and enable others to achieve what otherwise would never be achieved.

The second definition of leadership is from the late Ken Gangel  (1989) which says, “The exercise of one’s spiritual gifts under the call of God to serve a certain group of people in achieving the goals God has given them toward the end of glorifying God . . . The pastor or administrator or executive, therefore, works with and through people to get things done. He takes the proper leadership in following up each objective to the end that God might be glorified.” Montoya (1995) notes that the common denominator in both the definitions is that the leader is one who leads others to the accomplishment of a common goal. There is still another perspective on Christian leadership.

Gary Bredfeldt (2006) says leadership should be values-driven, vision-driven, venture-driven, and virtues-driven. He identifies the biblical leader as Leader-teacher and explains further his definition as follows: Biblical leaders value people as divine image-bearers. They are hope-filled and visionary because they know God continues to do great things in this world. They are venturous as they establish churches, Christian organizations, mission efforts, new programs, and efforts to meet human needs. And they are virtuous leaders who seek to do all of their ministry in a manner consistent with the character of Christ and the principles of God’s Word. Bredfeldt (2006) notes that though leaders lead through various means it is through teaching that leadership is done. There is one final writer’s perspective that is to be considered in this article.

Kenneth S. Coley (2006) in his book, The Helmsman: Leading with Courage and Wisdom, presents a transformational approach to leadership as it applies to education, and uses the metaphor of the Helmsman-one who steers the ship for the image of the leader. He presents the helmsman in four different roles that are Scripturally based and are as follows: Administrator-based in the writing of the apostle Paul; Community leaders-based on Nehemiah; Builder of the body-base on Ephesians; and Steward-based on Jesus and others throughout the Scripture. Coley (2006) offers eight characteristics of transformational leadership that are drawn from the Biblical character-Nehemiah. The eight characteristics are supported numerous quotes from transformational theorists and they are as follows: the building block of prayer, the building block of vision, the building block of developing unity, the building block of high expectations, the building block of individual support, the building block of modeling, the building block of the Word, and the building block of celebration. Coley develops the leadership conclept further in his book, but this is central to his approach. This concludes the survey of definitions, and now how it is applied to this writer’s area of ministry.

This writer’s adoption of leadership theory and practice has gone through an evolution of over thirty plus years, from the early days of ministry preparation and practice of pastoral ministry to the present. The early days consisted of a strong modeling of the trait approach to leadership, and a more informal instruction of a quasi-skill/style approach to leadership. this was all messed with the Biblical concept of servant leadership. It left this writer this writer somewhat floundering for there were many gaps, until 1990 when this writer too a course on leadership that primarily presented the situational leadership model. It was adopted and put into practice as it is easily understood, implemented and equated with a discipleship model. As time has progressed, and with study and ministry maturity, this writer presently concludes that the transformational approach is the style that is embraced and practiced for the following reasons. First and foremost is that this writer believes that transformational leadership is a biblical approach. Also, as Peter Northouse (2007) has said: Transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people. It is concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals and includes assessing followers’ motives, satisfying their needs, and treating them as full human beings. Transformational leadership involves an exceptional form of influence that moves followers to accomplish more than what is usually of them. It is a process that often incorporates charismatic and visionary leadership. Another point that Northouse (2007) mentions is that transformational leadership is encompassing meaning that it is broad based and flexible enough to be versatile and it has a vital component that many approaches do not, and that is the moral aspect. This writer has transitioned into this approach over time, and currently practices this style of leadership in his pastoral ministry.

In conclusion, leadership can be defined in a variety of ways, and it can be conceptualized in numerous ways. One must determine based on the teaching of Scripture what the definition of leadership is, and then how that concept is translated into a practicing style. It is the opinion of this writer that the transformational style of leadership is the approach to practice.

Leaders are not just needed to lead nations or moon missions, but leaders are needed in the family, the school classroom, and the local town government. Leaders are needed everywhere and everyone is capable of being a leader in some situation or at a certain level. Leadership is “Everyone’s Business,” according to James Kouzes and Barry Posner (2002). Kouzes and Posner (2002) say their book, The Leadership Challenge, “Is about how leaders mobilize others to want to get extraordinary things done in organizations”  (p. xvii). They say further, “It’s about the practices leaders use to transform values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risks into rewards. It’s about leadership that creates the climate in which people turn challenging opportunities into remarkable successes” (p. xvii).

James Kouzes and Barry Posner are well qualified to write on the subject of leadership, Kouzes became interested in leadership when he was selected as one of the dozens of Eagle Scouts selected to serve in Honor Guard for President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. He went on to receive a BA degree with honors from Michigan State University in political science and a certificate from San Jose State University’s School of Business for the completion of the internship in organization development. He has been an educator, author, conference speaker, and is chairman emeritus of the Tom Peters Company, a leadership and consulting company. Also, he is an Executive Fellow at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University (Kouzes and Posner, 2002).

Barry Posner became interested in leadership during his college years at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he received his BA degree in political science. He also received the MA degree from the Ohio State University, and the PhD from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in organizational behavior and administrative theory.Posner is an internationally known scholar educator, author, conference speaker, and served as a consultant in numerous public and private sector organizations around the world. Posner sits on the Board of Directors for the American Institute of Architects, and has served on the boards of Public Allies, Big Brother/Sisters of Santa Clara County, the Center for Excellence in Non-Profits, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, and numerous other start-up companies. He has in the served as the associate dean for the graduate program and managing partner for the Executive Development Center (Kouzes and Posner, 2002).

The principles and practices that Kouzes and Posner bring to the reader in The Leadership Challenge are based on several decades of research which was started in 1983. The authors wanted to know what people did when they were at their “personal best” in leading others. They started with the assumption that they did to have to interview and star performers, but ordinary people who were doing extraordinary things to find patterns of success. They found what they were looking for in their search. The data of the research can be accessed via the web: http//www.leadershipchallenge.com/research. They also pepper their research-based principles with numerous anecdotes that support their findings from a variety of  people and organizations. They do this because they are interested in relating to all kinds of leaders (Kouzes and Posner, 2002). This is stated very clearly in their purpose for writing the book.

Kouzes and Posner have strong belief that ordinary people who exercise leadership become leaders, because good leadership is an understandable and a universal process. It is not meant for the chosen few in particular positions. So, their purpose in writing The Leadership Challenge is to assist people like managers and individual contributors alike, in furthering their abilities to lead others to get extraordinary things done in all walks of life. Kouzes and Posner (2002) say, “They have written the book to develop your capacity to guide to guide others to places they have never been before” (p. xviv). They accomplish this task in the thirteen chapters of the book are summarized below.

Kouzes and Posner look at leadership as a journey or adventure, and so they consider their book a field guide full of  principles and practices for the leader to take along with them to assist on the journey of leadership. The book is divided into seven parts and thirteen chapters. The parts are as follows: what leaders do and what constituents expect, model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, encourage the heart, and leadership for everyone. Chapters one and two introduce the reader to their view of leadership which is a transformational style of leadership as quoted earlier. Chapter one describes the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership that they have synthesized from their research which include: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart.

This chapter also includes what they call the Ten Commandments of Leadership-fundamentals for applying these leadership practices in your setting. The Ten Commandments of Leadership include: finding your voice by clarifying your personal values, set the example by aligning actions with shared values, envision the future by imaging exciting and ennobling possibilities, enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations, search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow and improve, experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes, foster collaborative goals and building trust, strengthen others by sharing power and discretion, recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence, celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.

Chapter two shows the other side of the leadership coin: the constituents. They reveal from their research the characteristics that people most admire in their leaders. The research found that the tope four characteristics are: honest, forward-looking, competent, and inspiring. there area number of other characteristics that follow in descending order of importance according to the reasearch, but will not be listed at this point.

The five Practices are then dealt with in pairs of chapters from Chapters three through twelve. Specifically, the content of those chapters are as follows: Chapter 3-Find Your Voice; Chapter 4-Set the Example; Chapter 5-Envision the Future; Chapter 6-Enlist Others; Chapter 7-Search for Opportunities; Chapter 8-Experiment and Take Risks; Chapter 9-Foster Collaboration; Chapter 10-Strengthen Others; Chapter 11-Recognize Contributions; and Chapter 12-Celebrate Values and Victories. The authors use chapter thirteen to challenge the reader about how leadership is a learned set of practices, and accessible to anyone. This is  a principle I agree with wholeheartedly (Kouzes and Posner, 2002). This summarizes the content of the text, but one needs to consider whether the authors have accomplished their thesis goal.

Kouzes and Posner equate leadership to a journey or adventure of life, and truly it is for they do emphasize the process aspect of leadership to help the leader develop his or her skills throughout the journey. They also present a transformational style of leadership although they do not specifically state it in those terms. They use the word “transform” throughout the text, and make statements that leadership is like the following, “it’s about the practices leaders use to transform values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risks into rewards” (p. xvii). The research section of their website make it very clear that transformational leadership style is what they are advocating.

Transformational leadership is a broad and encompassing style of leadership that includes a variety of excellent leadership components and one that meets the Christian leader’s Biblical worldview. One of the main reasons for this and it is a strength of the leadership style itself, but also a strength of The Leadership Challenge which is its emphasis on integrity, morality, and ethics. Kouzes and Posner weigh heavy on this aspect of leadership because it is what they discovered in their research, and they believe that credibility is the foundation of leadership. From this they have coined what they call, “The First Law of Leadership: If you don’t believe in the messenger, you won’t believe the message” (p. 33). This call is not only refreshing to see this in leadership theory, but necessary amidst the numerous corporate and Christian leadership scandals in recent years.

Another strength of the book was its section on vision or as they call it, “forward looking.” The authors declare that the forward-looking leader is what differentiates him or her from others. Kouzes and Posner (2002) say, “Envisioning the future is a process that begins with passion, feelings, concern, or an inspiration that something is worth doing” (p. 124). They further state, “Vision . . . means an ideal and unique image of the future for the common good” (p. 125). this challenge is goof for all leaders, and the Christian leader needs to be reminded that he or she must have is the will of God and Great Commission which is both for the common good and worth doing.

Another strength of the book and credit to the authors is the way that they write and present their material. What this reviewer means is that they accomplish the goal of their thesis of presenting principles and then practice for the leader to follow. Also, it is by choice that the book is riddle with stories from all kinds of individuals and levels of leadership. Their presentation is crafted in such an inspiring way, that it challenges the reader to believe that leadership is accessible to everyone and  want to go out and lead.

If there is a weakness to the book, it is the opposite side of one of its strengths which has to do with the moral and ethical section. The authors seem to exchange the use of the terms moral and ethical without really explaining the difference. One can pursue a standard of moral behavior, but ethics involves the belief behind the moral behavior. Kouzes and Posner do speak about belief and how important it is to developing this aspect, but they could have done better in explaining the distinction. Also, with regard to this area, by not taking a particular belief stance, it tells the reader to develop their ethical and moral standards based on their belief system. There is a danger here. They do address the dangers of illegitimate use of leadership that arises from wrong beliefs, but there is another more subtle danger of developing moral and ethical standards based on non-Christian beliefs. For example, one’s definition and meaning of integrity may vary based on the belief system that one derives their morality from, especially in a relativistic culture. This of course, is not a Christian leadership text and the authors are appealing to a wide range of individuals in leadership roles, but it must be noted that this approach can produce some problems. The positives of emphasizing morals and ethics though far outweigh any possible negatives with regard to this issue. In summary of this section, Kouzes and Posner write a text on leadership that is consistent with their thesis goal, and have written one that not only informs the reader of the principles, but shows how to practice them. The Leadership Challenge challenges not only secular leaders, but Christian leaders too.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner have written The Leadership Challenge to help leaders develop their ability as they move through the process of their leadership adventure. They have written an excellent volume on the subject of transformational leadership that will build within anyone who is willing to step forward and become a leader. This book truly emboldens what leadership is all about-Everyone’s Business.

Lima is located on the coast but there is no rain except for a little mist from time to time. It is arid with no vegetation around the city unless it has been planted and artificially watered. We were there at the end of their fall season and it was starting to transition into their winter. The temperature was mid to high 60s in the day with no more than a 10 degree drop at night. The sky was mostly a milky white overcast of clouds and we only saw the sun partially on one day. Then the final day we were there it was sunny and blue skies. I understand that their summer months is when they have the bulk of sunshine and clear skies.

The food was delicious! Rice is a staple served with chicken and fish. Fish is a major industry as one would guess with Lima being a coastal city. We had to try the Civiche, a fish dish where the fish is literally cooked by being soaked in lemon and lime juice. It was very good! We did not try any beef or pork although it is available. Argentina is the country in South America that is supposed to have the best beef. I am sure there are some that might dispute that claim, but that’s what they say and I have read. There is a heavy asian influence in the food dishes, and one can study the history of Peru to find how that came about.

The people are wonderful with their unique spanish dialect! We were well received by the people and had an enjoyable time with them. The religious faith of Peruvian people is predominately Roman Catholic, although there are many faith groups spread throughout the country including pagan practices that are rooted in the ancient Inca faith. We of course were working with an evangelical ministry that we have supported for 15 years. It is a mission work that is multifaceted including La Roca Church and Alcance Mundial Peru, the mission outreach of World Reach. The ministry includes a church with its various ministries, a medical clinic, Pregnancy care clinic and ministry to pregnant women in crisis, church planting, Bible Institute, and a Christian school. We had the opportunity at the invitation of Juan Barrientos, the Pastor and Mission Director to come to train the staff, area national missionaries, and Christian school teachers. We maintained a busy schedule of teaching morning and afternoon, a couple of night sessions, and preaching in the church on Sunday. The people who participated were fully engaged and eager to learn soaking up all that we could give them. And we were excited and more than willing to pour into them the training that they desired, so they might be more effective in their ministries.

It was an exciting and encouraging experience to see what the Lord has done there through those people these 15 years. It was also humbling to put it in perspective, when I was reminded that our church was one of the first two churches that took the Barrientos on for financial support 15 years ago. That was conveyed one night to the ladies group of the church by Eva Barrientos, and some of the women wept as they realized that our partnership with the Barrientos was what brought them the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ! Praise God! That is what partnering in missions is all about…fulfilling the Great Commission of our Savior-Matt. 28:19-20! May we never lose sight of our purpose. I look forward to returning sometime in the future to minister to them again, and hopefully a number of others can go with me.

We would like to encourage anyone interested in helping with this project to donate items for the Yard Sale, non-perishable foods, or by purchasing something at the Yard Sale on May 16th. Your involvement and help is needed to make a substantial impact in the needy lives of our community. You may contact Grace Baptist Church for further details.

Many published reports on the subject of adolescence leaves one with the distinct impression that American youth do not have religious and spiritual lives. Thus, the thesis of the authors of Soul Searching is a response to that notion by developing a better scholarly and public understanding of the religious and spiritual lives of American adolescence. The book attempts to describe and evaluate the shape and texture of American religion broadly by viewing it through the lens of the religious and spiritual practices and nonreligious American youth (Smith & Denton, 2005).

The book’s data is based on the findings from research that was conducted from July 2002 to March 2003 by the National Study of Youth and Religion. It was a mixed method research project that involved a national, random digit-dial telephone survey of U.S. households containing at least one teenager age 13-17, surveying one household parent for about 30 minutes and one randomly selected household teen for about 50 minutes. These results were then combined with the results of 17 trained project researchers that conducted 267 in-depth face-to-face interviews from 45 states (Smith & Denton, 2005).

Smith and Denton develop their thesis over seven chapters beginning in chapter one with some key themes as they are played out in the lives of two teenagers that were interviewed in the study. The second chapter delivers the extensive findings of the national research survey on the religious and spiritual identities, affiliations, beliefs, experiences and practices of American adolescents. Chapter three highlights the “spiritual seekers” who as the authors identify as “spiritual but not religious,” those that are diagnosed from religion, and the seriously religious in order to better understand who these teens are. In chapter four the authors develop more thoroughly the thoughts, beliefs and feelings about and experiences about religion and spiritual things while developing central themes of the youth. Chapter five looks at forces and factors that form the lives of American teenagers, and chapter six focuses on American Catholic teens and why they seem to score lower on the religiosity of the survey. The final chapter, seven examines questions of how religious practices associate with different outcomes in the lives of adolescents (Smith & Denton, 2005).

Smith and Denton produce a very thorough, substantial, scholarly and reliable work because of the extensive research that the book is based upon Yet, Smith is modest in admitting that it is not a perfect book, but its good generalities come from the statistics of teens that have been gathered. Smith has also produced a film with teens from the original survey and interviews which is equally compelling.

There are a number of positive elements that are gained from Soul Searching. One point which seems to have been a major motivator in doing the research and writing the book is that there is a lot of material written today that suggests that the spiritual lives of teenagers is either non-existent or relegated to being “spiritual seekers.” Smith notes that there is not much research evidence to back this up, but it all is based on popular stereotyping, anecdotal and impressionistic material. This is a great observation, and Smith later writes in an article that the issue of integrity comes into the picture for which both non-believing scholars and evangelicals are to be called into question.

Smith and Denton debunk the myths and stereotypical picture of American teenagers as they draw out from the research that teens are accessible, receptive to adults, it is possible to develop relationships with them, and they are not “aliens.” What teens need according to the authors are acceptance, good role models, support and the opportunity to develop good and well meaning relationships.

The authors do a wonderful job of identifying a cultural drift into what they call Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. This view embraced by some teens believes that God or a god exists and orders the moral world, but they believe that the main purpose of life is to be happy, and God is not necessarily involved in people’s lives unless they get into trouble. They further observe that religious traditions are being colonized and eroded by this Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, and many social forces are fueling it and working against the religious traditions.

Another positive that the authors observe is that many of the teens surveyed are confident in their faith, especially conservative protestant and Mormon teens. A problem that was recognized though from the study is that many teens, primarily of the evangelical ranks have a difficult time articulating their faith.

One of the conclusions that was determined by the study which is very positive in developing a strong religious teenager is the impact that parents make upon their children. Though there are so many things pulling at teenagers today from the culture, parents get what they are in all respects, but particularly in the area of faith. The more the parents are committed to their faith, the more the teens will be committed to the faith of their parents. This is power and responsibility that parents must recognize they possess.

Another conclusion that is discovered from the study is that faith practice and community are shaping young people and their moral reasoning. The culture is arguing for vacating religious influence in exchange for relativism, but the study has shown that for the most part, the moral fiber of teens is being shaped by their faith practice and not this nonsensical relativism.

There are a few negatives in the book that are identified, but they are minor in comparison to the overwhelming positives. First, Smith and Denton could have given more sources and illustrations when they referred to the scholars’ and media’s pseudo-promotion of the majority of teens being drawn into the “spiritual seeker” mentality. This is also true in the section Therapeutic Individualism. Also, in the section Mass-Consumer Capitalism, it sounds like the authors may be arguing against capitalism, although they state that they are not. It may just have been their struggle in how strongly they should express the contribution of this over indulgent form of economics contribution to unhealthy teen lifestyles. Then, in the section on Moral Order, it seems to lack the historical perspective on the foundation Christian principles that were used and sought after by the forefathers of this nation. American culture was settled by those seeking religious freedom and they established this nation on Judeo-Christian principles. So, there is a long standing historic precedent in the establishment and order of this nation’s moral order that the authors did not argue well. In summary of this section, the extensive scholarly study that yielded this book has voluminously impacted the teen generation, American culture, and the church today, and the negatives stated here pale in comparison.

This book is very encouraging and valuable for it has shown that the American teenager is in a much better state than what many have purported, and that is good news for the evangelical church, parents, and the family. It shows that there are areas that need work such as the percentage of teens that still need to know Jesus Christ as their Savior, and the Christian teens that need to learn how to articulate what they believe with confidence. It also shows that the youth and education ministries of the local church need to stop and reevaluate the programs and approaches they have, and in many cases retool in order to do a better job in these areas. Also, since parental influence is such a major contributor to the lives and faith of teenagers, the church needs to put an emphasis on developing more faithful parents, and helping parents in the area of parenting skills. Family ministry should become an important part of the church’s educational ministry and budget.

In conclusion, Soul Searching is a well written and developed book based on sound and thorough research which is conducted by two qualified scholars who provide accurate and weighty insight into the faith lives of the teenage population in America. It is the opinion of this reviewer to highly recommend this volume to pastors, youth workers, parents, teachers, and all who work with teenagers.

So, what’s a Christian to do? Push back! Jesus said in Matthew 5 that Christians are the light of the world and salt of the earth.  A characteristic of light is that it drives the darkness back as far as it can be driven, and salt preserves and penetrates. Push back Christian! Push back with the light of God’s glorious truth, and unfathonable love! Say, Merry Christmas! Tell someone the good news of Jesus coming. Perhaps your salty lifestyle will influence some of those lonely, worrying, and fearful people to respond to the encouraging message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

According to a Barna survey of U.S. adults (July 2008):

84% of U.S. adults

90% of women

78% of men

96% of Blacks

83% of Whites and Hispanics

54% of Asians

90% of those over 40

77% of those under 40

67% of those 18 to 23

38% of self-identified non-Christians

These are interesting results yielded by the Barna survey. Do these results mean that the majority of American adults are conservative and behaving in a holy manner? If so, that’s good news! But there seems to be a problem. If so many people say the Bible is holy, yet why is there is so much unholiness in the land? Could it be that the media is just focusing on the few bad apples? That’s a good possibility.  It would be good if the media would focus more on the holy and positive things than the unholy and negative things happening in our culture. Maybe we all need to take a moment and write an email or make a call to the media and voice our opinion. But there may also be a disconnect between what people say and how they live. Now if the gap were closed between the saying and living, the American culture would be a whole lot more holy than unholy! The closing of the gap is achievable, when more and more people begin a relationship with Jesus Christ by placing their trust in him as their Savior, and then live by that Bible they say is holy. Perhaps the church is not shinning enough light and being salty enough so that the few unholy that are getting the spotlight can be influenced toward holiness! Let’s do both!